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Chapter 467 - Knowledge
🕑 Added 2024-10-14 08:25:54 +0000 UTCThe feeling of pulling descends upon me, and I leave the 1st floor of Beyond.
With all the items that are piled up from dozens of lurkers and the first expedition I joined, and the ones Whitey killed before. There are so many they are just piled up and tied with clothes I tore and tied together, plus some threads I made of mana.
I was able to do it as not that many lurkers attacked me. At most, groups of three that I dealt with with some effort, or sometimes just one or two.
It’s suspicious more of them didn’t follow me, considering how much I should be attracting them with that many kills. But I think it might also be because they’re scared of Whitey—if they are capable of feeling dread. If not, it might be their survival instinct.
As I depart, I find myself in the area where my handler sits behind her table. She doesn’t even pretend to be working and instead stares at me.
“I swear, if you try to take these items from me, I will change handlers, even if you name every single fucking Ruler,” I tell her right away.
My handler glances at the items and then back at me.
If she won’t talk, I will. “And what do you want? I thought I could ‘visit’ only when entering Beyond.”
“Yes, such ‘visits’ are required, but I can ‘summon’ you as you are leaving too.”
“I see. So what do you want? Have my shards for white sand?”
“Actually, yes.” After waving her hand, a window appears in front of me.
Request to transfer +70000 shards. Confirm?
Yes/No
Quickly, before she changes her mind, I confirm the transfer, a suspicion flowing through me right after. The number is too rounded up. Did she by any chance take 30%? Do I even want to know? I decide not to ask and just be happy for now.
“So what did I do this time?” I ask her.
“I won’t even mention how royally stupid what you just did was,” the handler lifts one of the papers off her table, reading from it.
“It worked out in the end.”
“There are so many different ways you could have done it.”
“Yes.”
“Easier ways, less painful ways, ones with a higher chance of success.”
“Yes,” I confirm again.
“Damned pride maniacs. After seeing it worked the first time, you might come to the idea of challenging every lurker with an interesting skill or ability on the 1st floor to gain that knowledge and rewards.”
That surprises me. It’s exactly what I was thinking.
My handler, seeing my reaction, taps on the table, her frustration evident, “It won’t work the second time. It shouldn’t have worked at all in the first place.”
“That’s unfortunate.”
“It is not.” She pauses, as if listening to something. “We’re almost out of time. Before you go, here—your identification emblem, updated.” She waves her hand.
There’s a burning sensation on the back of my left hand, and my D-rank Obsidian Black shifts to C-rank Ivory White.
I take a moment to admire the new emblem and remark, “That was an easy jump from D rank to C rank.”
“It was not.”
“I see.” I decide not to argue. “One last question. That deer… was he really…”
For a moment, she looks confused but quickly remembers, a quiet laugh escaping her lips. “Of course not. The ruler from the 1st floor was a phantom goblin.”
She meets my gaze, and, disappointed by my lack of reaction, simply smiles playfully. “Information like this is extremely valuable and not something you should possess yet. It’s nice that you want to know, but don’t be too… greedy.”
As I get pulled away, she waves, “I will see you later.”
***
The first to meet me is Biscuit.
I still plan to have a talk with him about the mark Luna sensed on me and other animals might sense as well. Maybe even Noodle can sense it, or Biscuit marked me because of Noodle.
But what’s with the people and animals around me? A mark from Lissandra, a mark from Biscuit. What’s next?
Biscuit lies near the place where I teleported from, the pile of items nearly falling on him, making him quickly stand up, his eyes still sleepy. Biscuit shakes his head, and with a small yawn combined with a welcoming bark, he rushes to me, his nearly nonexistent tail wagging.
As he gets close to me, he slows down. A few more steps later he stops, his nose constantly sniffing.
I take a step forward and kneel, reaching my right hand towards him. I don’t pet him right away but let him sniff my hand—something he likes to do sometimes.
After sniffing it, Biscuit barks and bites me. Even then, he does it in a way there is no damage; it doesn’t even hurt.
Turning around, he leaves, totally ignoring me and not even creating a telepathic link between us.
He doesn’t look back even as I call him with offers of Archdeer jerky, and I’m left there alone.
***
An hour later, Lily returns from her hunt, the twins still gone.
“Nat!” With a happy smile, she uses the opportunity to sneak in another hug.
After scanning my body, she, in one swoop, heals the remaining wounds, finishes growing limbs I have pieces missing from, and also quickly places a few healing marks.
“It went well?” she asks.
“Pretty good. I’ll tell you all when the twins are back so I don’t have to repeat myself. How did things go here?”
“A few powerful monsters showed up, and a day later, some native tried to kill us. Aaron and I nearly died, but I patched us up. He felt close to three question marks.” She touches my arm again. “You used all the marks.”
“Yup. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without them. My passive sucks.”
“I told you!” She seems to be giddy, knowing she helped me that way.
What a silly bulldozer-like healer.
“Yes, yes,” I answer her. “Do you want to help me sort out the items I got?”
“Sure!”
I watch as she reaches one of the piles, and generating just a bit of that gray mana, she cuts my mana threads that keep it all together. She even glances at me while doing so.
Is it some sort of show of dominance?
Just you wait. I already have an idea how to improve my mana to make it difficult even for [Disintegration] to damage.
Sitting on the ground next to her, I also start going through the items, separating them into multiple piles.
One for the items I will sell. Another one for items I will disassemble to learn a thing or two. A pile for the strongest items to later decide what to do with. A pile for materials, and more.
“Should it be that easy to get damaged arcane items?” Lily asks, holding the staff and dagger I got from my last adventure.
“I keep asking the same.” I take these items from her and put them into the pile of items to decide what to do with. later
I could sell them in Beyond, to the system shop, maybe rent to someone from group 4, or take them apart for materials or to gain experience to make an arcane item of my own.
Eldertree Staff (Arcane, Damaged) - Once able to summon ancient forests, this staff could bring entire woodlands to life. Though weakened, it still invokes powerful roots and thorned vines that erupt from the ground, briefly ensnaring enemies and causing significant damage to all caught within its grasp.
Nullstrike Knife (Arcane, Damaged) - Nullstrike Knife is incredibly sharp, capable of slicing through the toughest armor. The poison it once held is nearly gone, but it disrupts mana on contact, hindering magical defenses. Occasionally, it releases a pulse that temporarily silences all spells in the immediate area.
Looking at them now, they aren’t that bad. As their rarity says, they are much more powerful than upper epic weapons.
“Any idea why there are that many damaged arcane items? I would expect them to be more durable.” Lily brings up a good question.
“It could be the system messing around for the purpose of the tutorial. Weakening arcane items so people can have an easier time learning to make arcane items or get used to their power.”
“Wouldn’t it make sense in that case for there to be a rarity between epic and arcane?”
“I don’t think the tutorial is capable of twisting things that much. You could probably look at it from the point of view of these items having their power sealed, requiring effort to get them back to their full power.”
“So outside of the tutorial, there won’t be that many damaged arcane items?”
“Possibly, but don’t quote me on that.”
“Yup! Also, what a nice metal.” Lily hands me the piece of black metal with a copperish sheen.
Voidcopper (Arcane) - A dense, jet-black metal with a faint shimmer, Voidcopper is known for its ability to deflect magical interference. It’s favored for crafting shields, amulets, and armor due to its capacity to absorb minor spells, lessening their impact before dispersing the energy harmlessly.
“Yup, it will be useful, but check this.” I throw her a ball of thread that I’m probably the most excited about.
Amberlace (Arcane) - A warm-toned, honey-gold fiber that is both durable and flexible. Amberlace has an innate ability to stabilize nearby magic, which allows it to withstand complex enchantments without losing its structural integrity.
Lily reads it and then rubs it against her cheek. “It’s weird. It feels like metal, but it’s slightly warm while also… soft?”
I catch it as she throws it back at me and store it right away, “It’s a shame there wasn’t more, but I can use it for some nice stuff.”
“Is it common to get that many items from one or two Beyond expeditions? Isn’t it too… simple?” She gestures at piles of upper epic items, which I will sell later, and some other stuff.
“Easy…” I stretch the word. “It was doable.”
“How many times did you almost die?”
That requires a bit of thinking.
While remembering, I count on my fingers, “I will count only serious ones. So first would probably be from Specter when he cut my neck. I could’ve probably died against that icy lythnari too if I fought him alone, but does it even count? I joined to help Derick, and Savant joined too. Don’t tell him, but his domain helped there a bit. Then I almost died against that group of lurkers before Whitey came. Lastly, multiple times during the fight with Whitey. If I didn’t have mana stored or didn’t have healing marks from you, I would’ve probably died two to five times.”
“So, doable?” she asks.
“Yup.”
“I’m already curious what happened there.” She stands up, glancing at the piles of items one more time. “It wasn’t all for the items only, right?”
“Nope, but it’s a nice bonus. If it became a bother, I would throw them away at any moment.”
“So what was it you went there for?”
“I will tell you after checking it out. Could you go and check on Biscuit? I want to try something. If you can make Biscuit forgive me, I will give you an upper epic item of your choice.”
“Only one? You have over 20 of them.”
“Maybe two if you teach him to stand on his hind legs.”
“And walk while he’s asking for sustenance?”
“Please, no.”
She giggles. “Okay then, good luck.”
As she leaves, I rest my back against the boulder nearby and close my eyes with the intention to check on the results of my wager. I don’t know what to expect, how the system would even deliver this kind of knowledge. Would it be some book? Mana stone with information? A feeling? Would the knowledge just flow into my mind?
Sensing my intention, the system seems to know what I want, and I find myself in a different place. I can still feel my body sitting in the same spot when I try, so this place is likely somewhere within my mind.
A desolate hill stretches before me. The landscape is hauntingly barren, with cracked, dry ground and jagged rocks jutting out everywhere. The entire scene feels alien.
The sky is a swirling mix of gray clouds that makes the place look bleak, post-apocalyptic even. Dim light barely passes through the clouds, adding to the feeling.
There, at the top of the hill, stands a white monobloc plastic chair, and in this chair sits a tall figure. Long, beautiful white hair flows down, and the short black horns are visible even from where I stand.
That figure is watching a TV placed on a cheap Ikea-style table.
***
Comments
YoYo Crow
Hahahahaahha biscuit totally just caught him cheating!!! 🤣😂🤣
Ronnel
TFTC!! Poor biscuit 🥲
Kevin McGuire
Sooo this is Whiteythaniel
Gavriel
Hypothesis formed from: The real reason I think Handler is Greed is that her entire style is reminiscent of Greed the few times we've seen her. Evidence of abnormality: There's also Handler herself stating that an ordinary Handler wouldn't give Nate information like she does. Low reactivity: While in theory Handler would have the same access to his information as the Rulers, she didn't react at all except for a slight grimace to the news that the rulers outright interfered again. Finally: it's a gut feeling, but I think Handler is Greed.
John Doe
I think you're right, Zaim. The handler can see as much as the rulers because it's Nat's handler. She said so in the conversation about changing handlers.
John Doe
He's going to pass on his knowledge!
Gavriel
I'm not saying it's the absolute truth, I'm stating an opinion. Presuming that we only know what we already know, and that everything else follows standard social standards, and standard access levels it would make sense that Handler is Greed. Is Handler Greed? Wait and see.
Zaim İpek
You have no point of reference for any of that. It's just blind assumption. Every single handler may just be known as "handler" and hide their identity. You are assuming that's unique. She may know more than others, but there is no reason to believe that's unique. She may just have good connections. Yes, the greedy comment was a kind of foreshadowing, but there is no telling of what. It's more likely she is Greed's apprentice than her being Greed. And obviously there wouldn't be anyone else with handler level access to Nat's info. He only has one Handler. It is more likely that every handler has such access to their clients' info. Your idea isn't impossible, but your reasoning is based more on your head-canon than anything actually in the story.
P K
I swear she's just messing with nat at this point saying it was the deer curse and now the goblins he hates so much 😅 also I wonder what the system is trying to pull by making the demon guy kinda alive or at least 'back alive' in this new 'realm'
Asekhan
Eh, if anyone find a way of doing that, it would be Lissandra, not him
Gavriel
Reread the handler section in this chapter. Adjusting for everything she knows (which seems to be everything), you get a certain picture of her access level. Adjusting for the fact that she goes by just "Handler", and you realize she's hiding her identity.. Finally focus on her language, especially where she tells him not to be.... too Greedy. Typically people might say, don't be greedy, but she goes ahead and qualifies it with a "too", in IRL that wouldn't be much evidence, but cheeky foreshadowing is par for the course in writing. There's no one else with that level of access to knowledge, and oversight of Nate. Nor her overall attitude, that fits anyone besides Greed that we've so far seen.
Zaim İpek
Biscuit deserves better than this. I can't believe Nat cheated on him.
Zaim İpek
At this point she is just trolling. We have no idea who the first floor ruler is.
Zaim İpek
Why do you think that?
TBONEMAN
That phantom goblin has ruined our dream of biscuit fighting a ruler deer. I sadly have to agree with Nat that phantom goblins are the worst now.
Luis
Calling it now that Nat will find a way to revive Whitey from this "dreamscape" and he'll join Lissandra and Myrra in getting full status. Looks like we are getting an overpowered band of mentors for Nat! Next stop: Thermal Energy
Gavriel
Handler is Greed
TYRELL GRAY
And I think mastery is a most to be a top dog like biscuit. So it’s so beautiful to see him risking his life for the knowledge that whitey has
TYRELL GRAY
It also reminds me of the time, when liss, was trying to guide him on the path of mastery of mana manipulation, as much nath skills are op, he doesn’t have that crazy mastery, of anything not kinetic, thermal flame, black mana, leylin. The only thing I think he master is compressing mana, ball or spear. And even through that enemies have skill to counter it.
TYRELL GRAY
then he realizes that his thermal flames, are weak against the eternal ice, and he even knows that Leyline takes a lot of time to have its desired effect. All his over power method have risk or they are too destructive, and not lethal. So when he say whitey used kinetic energy. He thought wow, I need that.
TYRELL GRAY
I also like how Nath is constant improving. Like in the beginning all he talked about is more mana. Mana this, mana that. But then he realizes it’s not the best path to follow, so he created black mana, and even that is too much.
Arnon Parenti
I bet Minion would love meeting uncle Whitey, Nate should use his minion day now.
Arnon Parenti
Nat wagered something whitey didn't think was possible and the system said hmmkey do, now Whitey wants to do more than roam the first level of the dungeon.
Krzychu0304
Bambi's curse doesn't exist after all?! WAAAGH
TYRELL GRAY
At this point, thought Nath, was going to used his advanced mind, to develop a skill, like Lisa, with the twins. It seems appropriate at this point. Because to take over a skill, or to manipulate it to degree takes a lot of brain power.
Leyphelio
White hair and sitting on a white plastic chair? I can already hear Bury the Light start to play... Also congrats to whoever called this last chapter!
jj
Love the imagery of Whitey appearing like an old mentor from a 90s movie (though Nat is Gen Z). For the post-Apocalypse world I am imagining the real Earth surface from the Matrix. In other news, poor Biscuit! Nat, you ass! How dare you?
Nimps
Lol, I wonder if the Demon would try to take over Nat or if that's impossible because of the system enforced reward.
Dual.
Lol, sitting on a cheap manabloc chair and TV that's funny
Sauce Master
Slow down. Damn guys
3legia
Whitey as a mentor and the pissed Biscuit arc? Can't wait to see what you're cooking. This story is so good, always hyping the next thing which never disappoints
Andrew
Thank you!
zoarian
This is what you get for cheating on Biscuit Nat! No forgiveness!
monsieurTNT251
He's gonna have to listen to him yap for a while
Niclas Elmers
Tftc
Belmont Igneul
I wish it were morally acceptable to root for the demons
Mojr
LOL, Animal Overlord KNOWS Time to learn more about kinetic energy!
Borbino the great
I could kiss you cerim!🤩
